CommInsure denying heart attack claims

THE Commonwealth Bank is facing fresh allegations of unethical and unscrupulous behaviour in its life insurance business CommInsure, as it tries to rebuild its reputation after a damaging scandal in its financial planning division.

The Bank's insurance arm is denying legitimate heart attack claims by continuing to use an outdated definition that is buried in the fine print of its policy documents.

Leading cardiologists say CommInsure's policy definition is years out of date and should not be used in isolation to determine the severity of a heart attack.

The joint investigation by Four Corners and Fairfax can reveal that CommInsure's senior staff had been told the heart attack definition was problematic.

Heart attacks are one of the largest and most expensive claim areas in the life insurance industry. They are also the biggest killers in Australia, with 55,000 people having a heart attack each year.